In my mind they’re the same. A player makes plays and rises in the social and economic hierarchies to the point that multiple women are courting him, thus giving rises to the guy “playing games” complaints, “being a player.” Pick-up artistry mocks what players do around women to get women (poor motivator) and get seen as “players,” kinda like crackers get called hackers. I think rappers still meant it in the histiric sense but mass sales means more simps who don’t even know a player to misuse it more with an emphasis on women and pickup artists. In our world, leadership at top companies are the players (and ads are the drug, kinda joking).